


Swing It

by Illusinia



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-18
Updated: 2012-11-18
Packaged: 2017-11-19 00:00:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/566775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Illusinia/pseuds/Illusinia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve is trying to learn to dance. It's...not going so well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swing It

**Author's Note:**

> I only have a marginal idea of where this came from, and that marginal idea is linked to the short "Goovie Movie" from the 1940's. Otherwise, yeah...just don't ask.

Steve groaned, allowing himself to flop back onto the sofa in the Tower's entertainment center. He was breathing hard and sweating a little, tired and very clearly unhappy. “This is hopeless.”

 

“What is?” Tony's voice nearly sent Steve flailing to the floor, startling the super-soldier in a rather undignified way. He wasn't really sure how Tony managed to sneak up on him like that, but it seemed like every time he closed his eyes for a minute, the genius was there.

 

For a moment, Steve weighed the wisdom of explaining to Tony what he was trying to do. The insane engineer would probably just laugh and tell him to stop playing with such out of date ideas, but Steve really wanted to learn this. For his own piece of mind. He might not be living in the 40's anymore, but he was still a man of the era. And a man from his time knew how to do this.

 

Sighing, he threw caution to the wind and began to explain himself to Tony. “I'm trying to learn to dance.”

 

“Seriously?” asked Tony, eyebrow shooting up. “You know, it's not that hard. Swing your hips a little, wrap you arms around your partner, and you're good.”

 

Groaning again, Steve sat up completely and ran a hand over his face. “Not that kind of dancing, Tony. I meant swing. The kind of dancing we did back, well, when I was younger.”

 

“You still _are_ younger,” pointed out Tony. “And older. Simultaneously. You, Mr. Incarnation of American Spirit, are a paradox. Congratulations.”

 

Steve took a moment to examine Tony, brow furrowing slightly as he looked at the other man. “Tony, when was the last time you slept?”

 

“Depends on what today is,” replied Tony, prompting another groan from Steve. Great. Sleep deprived Tony was never good. “You know, there's a good instructional video on how to dance swing. I can have JARVIS cue it up for you.”

 

For the first time since Tony came into the room, Steve actually perked up a little. “Really?”

 

“Sure,” dismissed Tony easily. “Hey JARVIS, pull the video “Groovie Movie”, circa 1940's, off the server and project it in here.”

 

“Of course sir,” replied JARVIS. A moment later, the opening credits for the movie began to play with the MGM lion roaring.

 

“There you go, Steveo. Good luck,” dismissed Tony. “I'm gonna go find Pepper and see if she can do something about the purple gremlins in my workshop.”

 

Steve didn't even ask what Tony was talking about, deciding he didn't want to know. As he'd said, a sleep deprived Tony was not an easy thing to deal with. Focusing back on the video, Steve began to carefully listen to the instructions and watch the actors move through the dance.

 

0000000000

 

Pepper wandered into the entertainment center of the Tower, following the sound of jazz music and fumbling. Natasha stood in the doorway to the room, watching something that was apparently entertaining to her based on the way her shoulders were shaking. The other woman looked to be trying very hard not to laugh. Moving into the entryway as well, Pepper nearly broke into laughter too.

 

Steve was standing in the middle of the room, trying to emulate the very complicated and clearly made-up instructions which were playing across the TV screen. Of course, Pepper recognized the movie immediately as a parody-style movie about swing dancing and the degree of complexity involved in both learning and teaching it. A movie that Steve apparently thought was accurate. And she was pretty sure it was Tony's fault.

 

The man had said something about Steve and dancing amid his comments about purple gremlins stealing his tools again. One sedative and some cajoling later, the genius in question was sleeping off his delirium upstairs. And Pepper was faced with how to explain to the good captain that the video he was watching wasn't meant to teach someone to dance.

 

Watching Steve peck like a chicken as he moved uncertainly across the floor almost made her change her mind about informing him. It really was a funny sight to behold. Still, Steve was an innocent man in some ways, and teasing him about certain things amounted more to kicking a puppy than teasing.

 

Exchanging a glance with Natasha, whom Pepper had learned to communicate with silently while the super-spy was still playing the roll of Natalie, the CEO entered the room silently. She knew Natasha was walking behind her; she couldn't hear the other woman's footfalls, but she could feel her there. Apparently, Natasha was willing to help her keep Steve from embarrassing himself in front of the others. Fortunately, most of the ones who would understand why what Steve was doing was so funny were gone for the moment or sedated.

 

“Steve, what are you doing?” asked Pepper, attempting to keep her voice even.

 

Steve stumbled, apparently startled by her and Natasha's appearance, and banged his knee against the coffee table in the process. Wincing, he rubbed at the hurt joint tenderly. “Shoot, that hurt.”

 

Pepper had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing, instead moving around the sofa to help Steve sit down. “I'm sorry Steve, we didn't mean to startle you.”

 

“It's fine, Miss Potts,” assured Steve, even as he rubbed his knee a little. He muttered something that sounded like 'everyone else does it', but she could have been hearing that wrong. “Is there something I can help you with?”

 

“Just Pepper, please. And I think it's more a question of if we can help _you_ with something,” explained Pepper as she sat beside him on the couch. “What are you trying to do, exactly?”

 

Steve blushed a little, looking down towards his feet. One of his hands was still absentmindedly rubbing at his knee. “I'm, uh, trying to learn to dance. I, well, I never got the chance to. Before, I mean.”

 

“In your time,” supplied Pepper gently, one hand coming to rest on his arm. “You know there are easier ways to learn than a video, right?”

 

“Like what?” asked Steve, brow furrowing as he finally looked up at both Pepper and Natasha. “I tried to take a class, but all the women always stare at me and it's kinda unnerving.”  
  


Natasha cocked an eyebrow at the super-soldier. “Steve, I don't know if anyone ever told you this, but you _are_ essentially bottled human perfecting. Women are going to stare.”

 

“I know, but it's kinda uncomfortable,” explained Steve, cheeks turning slightly red. “I'm not used to the attention.”

 

Pepper nodded sagely beside him. “That would be a hard thing to adjust to. But I'm sure we could hire you a private teacher to come to the Tower and show you how to dance.”

 

Steve offered her a slight smile. “Thanks, Miss Po- er, Pepper, but I don't want to inconvenience anyone. Really, I can learn on my own.”

 

“No, you can't,” interjected Natasha with a shake of her head. When both Pepper and Steve looked up at her, she just shrugged. “I tried for a mission. It didn't go well.”

 

Pepper perked up a little bit at Natasha's words, seeing a third option open before them. “You know how to swing dance?”

 

“Multiple ways,” confirmed Natasha, brow furrowing slightly. “Why?”

 

“You can teach Steve,” explained Pepper, shooting the super-spy a hopeful look. “I have a small dance studio one floor down you can use to practice in and it would keep Steve from being stared at.”

 

Natasha looked uncertainly at Steve, eying him with apparent unease. “What if I went with him to the classes instead?”  
  


Pepper's brow furrowed. “Can't you teach him?”

 

“I could,” confirmed Natasha. “But I'm not sure he would...benefit from my style of teaching. Plus, I know how to dance the steps, not teach them. The different parts don't translate easily from dance to instruction.”

 

Glancing at Steve, Pepper noticed that he didn't appear completely opposed to the idea. “What do you think, Steve? Would that work?”

 

Steve looked up at Natasha nervously, hands fidgeting a little. “Would you be willing to come with me?”

 

“I did offer to,” pointed out Natasha with a smile. “What class did you have in mind?”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I also have no intentions of continuing this story because it will evolve into something involving Natasha and Steve which could be a lot of fun, but also very, very bad with everything ELSE I'm working on.


End file.
